What works against rodents

[Torvy]

A good solution for openings is steel wool. I owned a building onece with a pipe coming through a wall they would enter around. I tried packing stuff in the hole and taping it up and they would chew through. Finally packed it with steel wool and no more mice.

I used a similar solution in town. Had a spigot replaced and they left a bigger hole...large to a mouse. Stuffed it with steel wool and sealed it with expanding foam. They will not chew steel wool, but they will chew the foam....but they can push through the steel wool. Foam keeps it in place. Win-win for me.

 

[CausticUrbanCoast]

So... since the last two were about mice, if you have rats they will eat through that.. metal screen and light plate as well if they have enough incentive!

 

[Torvy]

I think I stick with experts on this one:

Managing Rats and Mice - Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

An integrated program using rodenticides and traps, removal of shelter, removal of food and water, and rat-proofing is most effective.

agrilifeextension.tamu.edu

 

[CausticUrbanCoast]

I think I stick with experts on this one:

Managing Rats and Mice - Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

An integrated program using rodenticides and traps, removal of shelter, removal of food and water, and rat-proofing is most effective.

agrilifeextension.tamu.edu

Good way to dismiss the other 50 comments that say the same thing!

 

[oosik]

Six years ago I had a "troop" of wood rats visit me. Forty plus years and never any rats. Except that one year. And BOY - were they ever STUPID. Over a period of two weeks I killed them all. Some were trapped - some I got right up next to and shot with my 22 pistol. One went thru the engine fan on my Jeep. What a mess!!

They would just sit on my lakeside porch - let me open the door - cock the pistol. From a distance of about five feet - I'd dispatch them. The total count - seven.

Never seen them before or since.

 

[ning]

Six years ago I had a "troop" of wood rats visit me. Forty plus years and never any rats. Except that one year. And BOY - were they ever STUPID. Over a period of two weeks I killed them all. Some were trapped - some I got right up next to and shot with my 22 pistol. One went thru the engine fan on my Jeep. What a mess!!

They would just sit on my lakeside porch - let me open the door - cock the pistol. From a distance of about five feet - I'd dispatch them. The total count - seven.

Never seen them before or since.

I had a troop invade my chicken coop, no big surprise with the compost pile in the coop (actually just where we dump the kitchen scraps, the chickens don't let it compost, we take the soiled straw / wood chips out and put those in the pile and just skip the slow part).

I took a few cats down there with me one night and they caught a few (one cat is the quickest hunter I've ever seen - I pulled up a likely board one day and I saw a cloud and heard one squeak and he had a dead rat in his jaws, he knows how to dispatch them fast).

I have a spring-loaded pellet pistol (177, forget the make but it was cheap and it's surprisingly strong - high fps - and accurate) and shot a few more before they all disappeared. Repeated the next few nights; I think we got a majority of the colony as I haven't seen them back. Almost like shooting fish in a barrel except there were a couple exits they eventually got to.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

if poison is out of the questions then cats.... lots and lots of cats..... or a jack Russel terrier..... or traps like the water bucket spinner / multi rodent catch alls / etc...

 

[hube2]

Another thing that works well is leaving out a pail of old oil. Sounds weird probably, and I don't put this out on purpose to catch rodents. I have a pail of old oil that I use for soaking tools in when they get a little rust on them and I also use it for painting various things that I want to preserve. When I dump it out when it's time to take oil to get rid of I always find several rodents in the bottom. Plus side is that they don't rot and stink in there, the oil preserves them quite well.

 

[denchen]

We used to have a big old she cat that walked around the farm. She was half wild, put your hand down and she'd have all your skin off before you realized you'd made a mistake. Our farm dogs wouldn't go anywhere near her and my mother would sooner stop in the house if she see her. If the cat had a litter, she became even worse, collecting rats and mice to feed her kittens. The kittens were in great demand by other farmers, and mostly it was a matter of `if you can get near one you can get it yourself. We never had any trouble with rats and mice.

 

[Texasmark]

I had rats chewing on my injector wires. I put out bait blocks and the rats just carried them up into the engine compartment. I got live traps and caught several, then I let Mr Ruger have a brief talk with them. Live traps seemed to have solved my rat problem.

Well I found a nest in my Silverado battery compartment. Put one in and day later checked and it was gone. Ditto day 2. Day 3 it was chewed on but still there............